From indie cinema powerhouse A24 comes a movie so bizarre, you’d have guessed its story was fiction. But Zola is based on (mostly) real-life events, which were first relayed with gripping detail by A’Ziah “Zola” King in a 148-tweet Twitter thread in 2015. Several years later, the see-it-to-believe-it story is headed to the silver screen. A24’s first trailer for the movie is just as shocking as we hoped it would be.

Zola, which had its premiere at the 2020 Sundance Festival, is directed by Janicza Bravo and co-written by Bravo and Jeremy O’Harris. The film stars Taylour Paige as Zola, a Detroit waitress who strikes up an unlikely acquaintanceship with a new customer named Stefani (Riley Keough). Stefani convinces Zola to join her on weekend spree to Florida, but their glamorous vacation quickly nosedives into a 48-hour hell trip with unexpected characters and plenty of shady activity.

As Zola herself puts it: “Y’all wanna hear a story about why me & this b— here fell out? It’s kind of long but full of suspense.”

Check out the trailer below:

From the looks of the trailer, Zola’s fly-on-the wall style is reminiscent of The Florida Project and American Honey, two A24 titles that capture the zeitgeist of our modern age. Keough’s performance here actually seems to draw from her role in American Honey, where she plays the no-nonsense ringleader of a rag-tag magazine crew. Zola’s cast is rounded out by Nicolas Braun as Stefani's idiot boyfriend Derek, and Colman Domingo as X, Stefani’s violent pimp.

Zola arrives in theaters on June 30, 2021.

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